


Rosewater & Cardamom

by Pepper_Poppers



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Baking, Eventual Fluff, F/M, Post-Timeskip | War Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-20
Updated: 2020-03-20
Packaged: 2021-03-01 00:22:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,024
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23226256
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pepper_Poppers/pseuds/Pepper_Poppers
Summary: As a day of weddings is hosted around them, old classmates make arrangements to hold a picnic together, and Hilda would prefer something other than plain tea cakes for the occasion.The alternative dessert she suggests leads to a few misunderstandings.
Relationships: My Unit | Byleth/Claude von Riegan
Comments: 6
Kudos: 27





	1. Prologue

In Garreg Mach’s history, each Garland Moon held the annual promise of wedding ceremonies at the monastery. Being the most popular time to marry, the countless back-to-back ceremonies that were carried out through the moon had long ago transformed into the practice of hosting an abundance of weddings together on a single day.

Each year, travelers from across the continent would come to take part in the celebrations that occupied the whole monastery and extended into the town below. Considered the most romantic time to be wed, it was a day of extravagant banquets and all-night dancing amongst the liveliest of crowds. 

This yearly tradition endured until the monastery’s fall in 1181. In the years that followed, the rubble that remained of the monastery was unfit to host any union ceremonies, leaving the annual celebration of collective weddings to fade from observance. Couples instead wedded closer to home in wartime, the events often bittersweet as newlyweds promised uncertain futures to one another. Many marriages took place for the sake of stability or survival, as noble families joined to secure places of power when their influence wavered, and commoners wedded before increased numbers were inevitably needed at the war’s fronts.

But with the changing tide of the war, there was room for tradition once more. The Alliance victory at Fort Merceus was followed by an abundance of requests to once again host a collective wedding ceremony for the first Garland Moon since the war had begun. 

The decision of whether to hold the weddings, however, was a complicated one. The mysterious destruction of the Fort had increased the wariness of all, and with the infiltration of Enbarr planned to take place within the moon, all facilities needed to be geared toward seeing through what could very well be the final days of the war effort. 

The flood of requests from the Alliance’s people following the success at Merceus, however, was telling of their trust that the war would be coming to a swift end, and of their hope that a future of peace was finally within sight. 

With the support and morale of the people higher than ever, it was decided that the Garland Moon weddings would once again be officiated collectively. Just as the newly betrothed would make their trek to the monastery, the particularly devout made plans to attend for rededication ceremonies, solidifying the unions that had not been initially overseen by the church.

In it’s partially-restored state, the monastery was barely serviceable as a combined military base and place of worship... it could hardly operate as a proper wedding venue. The financial strain of the war, felt by many, was evident in the lack of refined catering and celebratory decor. But even without these pleasantries, the people were happy. Partners would be wed under the daylight that poured in through the cathedral's collapsed top, open to a sky that, with any luck, would soon provide a view of the continent’s new dawn.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter updates will be in pairs since the individual chapters will be somewhat short!
> 
> I occasionally put up polls on [my Twitter](https://twitter.com/Pepper_Poppers) (18+ only, thanks!) to decide which fics to focus on next- a new one will be up soon, swing by to follow or give your input!


	2. A Winning Recipe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hilda doesn't know which is worse: nasty boa fruit, or her friends continuing to dance around their feelings for each other.

Hilda could really appreciate a nice day off, they were so rare these days. 

Tomorrow, the majority of monastery staff would be dedicating their focus to facilitating the mass of weddings taking place, giving Alliance troops the day off to rest and regather as the spectacle played out around them. Ahead of the march on Enbarr, tomorrow’s free day might be one of the last they get. That in mind, their old class had opted to spend their free day not alone, not together as fellow soldiers, but side by side as former classmates. 

A plan was formed to hold a picnic on the lawn outside of their old classroom and take part in the seasonal tradition of weaving garlands for one another. Their old class had divided the work to put the relaxing afternoon together, and although Hilda had volunteered with Leonie to help gather the supplies needed to weave the rose garlands, she was hoping that Leonie wouldn’t need too much assistance on that front. Not because Hilda was feeling particularly lazy, no, but because she wanted to devote her time to a little something else…

When roles for the picnic were being decided, Hilda had expected the professor to be the one to offer to prepare tea. Lorenz, however, had taken on tea duty with an absurd quickness, leaving the professor to instead offer to bake tea cakes to go alongside the pastries Lysithea would be providing. Tea cakes were fine and all, but not festive enough for the occasion, in Hilda’s opinion. If she could just make some subtle suggestions to sway what the professor would contribute...

That was the thought that had sparked her into action. Hilda was now preparing to set two plans in motion, each, she thought, quite genius. 

First, plan one: bringing down the tea cakes. Tonight, she would provide an alternative recipe to the professor as a way of encouraging her to bake something a bit more... _romantically-themed_ than plain tea cakes. The professor’s always done her best to fulfill the requests of her friends, so if Hilda could dig up another recipe and pass it on to her, the threat of boring tea cakes could be averted altogether. 

Then, plan two: the garland weaving. Tomorrow, at the event itself, she would find a way to ensure that two people in particular were left with no one else to pair up when weaving garlands. While the activity itself was one practiced among friends as well as lovers, at its core, everyone knew the gift of a hand-woven garland held romantic connotations. It would be just the kind of push those two needed. 

Would it be a bit of a jump to expect some flower weaving to get them together? Of course. Hilda would do what she could to pry open the eyes of their oblivious leaders, get them to acknowledge some existing sparks, but the rest of the work would fall on her clueless friends themselves.

Following Marianne’s poetic wind and trees speech, it had come to the forefront of Hilda’s attention that the wind hadn’t been doing much to actively rattle the tree. And the tree, being a tree, couldn’t… perhaps the metaphors were better left to Marianne. 

What she was getting at, though, was that those two _clearly_ had a strong connection, but were doing nothing to engage one another romantically, leaving everyone else to watch the tension build without any substantial progress being made. At this rate, poor Ignatz would make the mistake of offering to paint their wedding portrait before they’d even been on a proper date. If Hilda had any say, that wouldn’t stand, because at this point she was obligated to meddle.

The entire day was going to be spent surrounded by weddings, so if there was ever a time to get those two to open their damned eyes a bit to reality, it was going to be then. The atmosphere would be perfect. If she could make sure those two were paired up with each other to thread some flowers, the work would do itself from there. 

Which only left the matter of finding a better, more romantically-inspired recipe for tomorrow. 

Hilda had expected to encounter more difficulty finding materials about romantic celebrations in the monastery’s main library. Luckily, she was able to find exactly what she was looking for in the one collection of books that wasn’t heavily curated by the church: cookbooks. It was there she found _A Survey of Romantic Dishes from Around the World_ , a book that appeared timeworn, but showed no deep creases in its spine. Browsing the book’s pages, she came across a familiar recipe:

_Nirvana Cake_

  * _1 ripe boa fruit_
  * _2 eggs_
  * _1 ½ cup flour_
  * _Half cup of milk_
  * _Half cup of butter_
  * _¾ cup sugar_
  * _Pinch of salt_
  * _Hint of vanilla essence_



_Begin by removing the seeds of the boa fruit, then use hands to mash the remaining fruit pulp. Stir ingredients to a uniform, lump-free batter and bake until the crust is a golden colour. Top with peach currants and dried Ailell grass, and slice the following day._

_This cake is commonly served for a number of Leicester traditions, most notably the Alliance’s founding day and engagement celebrations. The soft texture and bright flavors of this classic dessert makes Nirvana Cake a favorite to many._

Ugh, Nirvana Cake. The whole process to make it was nasty, removing all of the slimy seeds and mashing a bunch of messy boa fruit pulp. The boa fruit only gave the cake a subtly fruity taste, leaving the peach currants to provide the only strong flavor. The cake’s garnishes, Hilda thought, were probably the most exciting part of Nirvana cake, but the flavorful currants alone couldn’t redeem the recipe. 

The cake did, however, have a pretty golden crust. Nirvana cakes often _looked_ appetizing, but even so, the golden color of a cake didn’t make up for bland taste and poor consistency. The “soft texture” the book praised was total misinformation, all of the Nirvana cakes she had tried had been moist but gritty, and crumbed easily. Gross... Hilda had never been a fan, and that cake was one tradition she wouldn't mind ditching. 

Personal feelings toward the dessert aside, Nirvana cake couldn’t even be sliced until the day after it was baked. Even if it were a candidate for tomorrow’s replacement dessert, it wouldn’t be realistic to expect it to be made on such short notice. Hilda moved her gaze down the same page to the next recipe:

_Ardor Cake_

  * _Half cup of butter_
  * _Cupful of flour_
  * _¾ cup sugar_
  * _2 eggs_
  * _¼ cup yogurt_
  * _Sufficient vanilla extract_
  * _Half cup of almond meal_
  * _2 tbsp steeped rose petal tea_
  * _Teaspoonful of freshly ground cardamom_



_Grind fresh cardamom pods using a mortar and pestle. Steep rose tea for 4-5 minutes before adding to the mix. Incorporate cardamom, vanilla and rose tea to mix. Bake to a rich caramel colour, testing with a skewer to ensure the cake has finished baking. Decorate with finely ground sugar, lavandula grass and dried rose._

_Oh!_ This one’s got rose tea in it- her favorite! _Hmmm… okay, this one actually sounds pretty amazing._ Flipping the page, Hilda continued reading. 

_This ambrosial Almyran cake is a staple of traditional courting practices across the mountains in the east. This dessert is baked as an offering to potential partners, and is often served to crowds at engagement parties and commitment ceremonies._

Perfect! It certainly sounded like a cake saturated with romantic motifs, and what could be better for tomorrow’s gathering? 

Now, to get the recipe to the professor… Hilda didn’t want to pass it on in person and run the risk of being enlisted to help bake it. But Hilda couldn’t just leave the whole book outside of the professor’s room either, it might be considered lost. The plan would fall through entirely if the professor spent time attempting to find the book’s owner instead of baking. If leaving the whole book might cause some confusion, Hilda supposed she could just tear out the relevant half of the page for her... 

Her mind caught up to the hiss of ripping paper a little too late.

_I... probably shouldn’t have done that._

Taking a quick glance to scan the room, it looked like no one else was in the library with her. It wasn’t uncommon to find certain peers napping amongst the books, so Hilda counted herself lucky that no one was present to call her out on her book shredding. She could hear it now... _"Hilda, you must be more mindful of how you are treating the books"_ , and _"Can’t you be a bit more quiet if you’re going to rip pages like that?"_

Well, she supposed this was better than taking the whole book out, anyhow. Last time she removed some works from the library, she couldn’t find the time to return them for months. This way, the book could just remain in the library! Mostly…

Well, either way, that was settled. Now she would just have to slide the recipe under the professor’s door and see if she takes the hint! 

It was time to make a quick delivery...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case anyone was curious, when putting together the cake recipes in this fic, I used Custard Apple Cake and Persian Love Cake as reference!
> 
> Custard Apple Cake because Nirvana Cake in the game is made with boa fruit, which is described as a seeded fruit with serpent-like scales and delicious pulp- which honestly just sounded like a custard apple to me. 
> 
> For the other cake, I knew I wanted to go with something floral, and Persian Love Cake came to mind since it's made with rosewater. Given that much of Almyra was designed with Persian inspiration, it was already a nice fit, but then I learned there's a tale that the cake was first made by a woman to win over a prince she had fallen in love with... it was almost too on the nose, although the story has several different endings, not all of them happy


End file.
